Brionna Bolaños serves as the inaugural Program Manager for the Center for Social Justices’s DC Schools Project. Prior to joining the CSJ team full-time, Brionna served as a JGI for DCSP. Brionna earned their bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University, where they studied at the intersection of race and gender. Brionna is currently a master’s student in the Latin American Studies Program at Georgetown and is pursuing a graduate certificate in Gender, Peace, and Security with the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security. As a first-generation college student and a second-generation immigrant, Brionna is passionate about ensuring access and equity in higher education.
Dr. Shankar is an anthropologist, critical pedagogue, and mediamaker whose work falls into three broad areas. First, he is concerned with the politics of help and its role in upholding systems of racial capitalism. In his book, Brown Saviors and their Others (new window) (new window)(Duke, 2023), he takes India’s burgeoning help economy, specifically the education NGO sector, as a site from which to interrogate these ideas. He shows how colonial, racial, and caste formations undergird how transnational and digitized NGO work is done in India today. Second, he is a visual anthropologist and ethnographic filmmaker who has been interested in developing decolonial, participatory visual methodologies. He has primarily focused on the neocolonial politics of representation, global circulation, and reception of the “impoverished” and “suffering” child figure and offers new multimodal methods as alternatives to these paradigms. He is also interested in multimodal evaluation and publishing, asking questions regarding the possibilities that might accompany non-textual knowledge production. Towards this end, he is a current editor with the multimodal section of American Anthropologist. Third, he is an advocate for Curiosity Studies (new window) (new window), an emerging interdisciplinary field which challenges us to think anew about scholarly production, pedagogic praxis, and the political role of the academician. Arjun asks: what might a radical curiosity make possible and what political, economic, and social constraints prevent the flourishing of curiosity? Most recently, he is excited about his work as a founding member of Bol (new window) (new window), a D.C.-based worker-owned bookstore (Insta: bol_coop). Through this project he brings together his commitments to global economic and racial justice, and community building in D.C.
Blaythe Ayala
Assistant Director, Student Organizations and Leadership
Blaythe Ayala serves as the Assistant Director, Student Organizations and Leadership at the Center for Social Justice. In her role, Blaythe is responsible for connecting Georgetown students to service and social justice opportunities through student organizations. She also oversees the work and leadership development of CSJ’s Advisory Board for Student Organizations (ABSO) and student organization leaders. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Blaythe received her B.A. in Political Science, B.A. in Social Welfare, and B.A. in Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation, she worked as a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Office of Policy Development and Research, where she researched educational supportive services for youth in public housing. While working, Blaythe earned her M.Ed in Education Leadership and Policy, focusing on serving the whole person through cross-sector collaboration at the federal level.
Lucia transitioned to the role of Operations Manager in February 2020. She originally joined the Center for Social Justice team as a Payroll and Van Administrator in October 2013. In that role, she ensured the efficient and timely payment of the approximately 300 student employees involved in CSJ’s community-based service activities. She also oversaw student van coordinators, managed monthly billing processes, and verified that vehicles are in compliance with state, leasing agent, and Georgetown policies and requirements. Now Lucia has broad administrative oversight of CSJ’s hiring, equipment rentals, space usage. She also supervises the Center Operations Interns (COIs). Lucia is originally from the Republic of Moldova and graduated with a degree in Romanian and English Literature from the University of Bucharest. Lucia began her career working for the US Peace Corps in Moldova, providing administrative and interpreting support to volunteers and Peace Corps staff. After immigrating to the United States, Lucia provided comprehensive administrative support in the private sector for nine years.
Lionell Daggs III
Associate Director, Racial Justice Initiatives Send a message
Lionell Daggs III serves as the inaugural Associate Director of Racial Justice Initiatives for the Center for Social Justice. Prior to joining the CSJ team, Lionell served as one the Assistant Directors of the Cultural Centers at the University of San Francisco (USF) where his work centered on supporting systematically marginalized student populations, with a primary focus on students of color, women, and LGBTQ students. Lionell also previously worked at an education non-profit organization California School-Age Consortium, which builds professional networks that provide training, leadership development and advocacy for out-of-school time professionals.
Lionell earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Child and Youth Studies and a Master of Arts in Organization and Leadership at USF. His research interests include black feminism, feminist leadership, and social movements. His student affairs philosophy is oriented toward creating systemic change by utilizing his positionality and knowledge to uplift and support those around him and within his community. As a first-generation college student, he believes that all students with the right support and guidance can successfully navigate the higher education landscape.
LaMaria Glass (G’22)
Assistant Director, Youth Justice Programs Send a message
LaMaria Glass earned her Master’s in Educational Transformation at Georgetown University, concentrating in Advocacy and Policy. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Education, double majoring in Sociology and Youth & Social Innovation. LaMaria is passionate about youth and advocacy, and her ultimate goal is to advocate for students through education or for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. LaMaria has been involved with a number of organizations whose missions ranged from philanthropy to advocacy to centering first-generation college-bound students. LaMaria stays involved in her community, by working with youth or through her service with the Danville Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Her leisure time is spent singing, reading, exercising, playing basketball, and enjoying family and friends.
Kyra Hanlon is the Assistant Director, Immersion Programs at the Center for Social Justice. In this role, Kyra is responsible for managing 20+ local and global immersion experiences, overseeing student leadership development, and coordinating with campus partners through CSJ’s Alternative Breaks Program. Kyra’s portfolio also includes CSJ’s commitments to ethical global service learning through support of CSJ-funded students working outside of the United States, CSJ’s wrap-around course UNXD 030 Intersections of Social Justice, and The 100 Projects for Peace award. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Kyra received her BS in Culture and Politics from Georgetown University in 2016 before moving to Memphis, Tennessee. While in Memphis, Kyra served as an AmeriCorps member with Impact America and then transitioned to serve as Impact’s Tennessee State Co-Director, managing AmeriCorps programming for vision screenings, VITA tax sites, and documentary filmmaking. As an undergraduate, Kyra worked as a Teaching Assistant for CSJ’s Intersections course and as a Center Operations Intern.
Jessica Lee joined CSJ’s team as the DC Schools Project Program Director in July 2013 and transitioned to her current role in February 2020. Jessica is responsible for the oversight of the DC Schools Project which delivers English literacy skills support to children, youth, and adults of low-income, immigrant backgrounds in the DC area, focusing on providing direct support and advocacy for newcomer youth and their families through emergency family planning for deportation and broader policy advocacy work in coalition with local immigrant justice organizations. Jessica also serves as a lead facilitator on the Racial Justice Working Group for the CSJ team and on the Undocumented Students Advisory Task Force to support undocumented students on campus. Jessica is from Portland, Oregon, where she attended Lewis and Clark College and earned a BA in International Affairs and Foreign Languages. She attended the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California for her Master’s in Public Administration, with a concentration on nonprofit management. She returned to Portland to work with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon on immigration, education, and health equity issues in Oregon’s communities of color. Previous to joining CSJ, Jessica worked as the Community Health and Service-Learning Coordinator at Georgetown Medical School. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Educational Transformation at Georgetown.
Nicole Reeder currently serves as Assistant Director for Educational Equity. Nicole’s portfolio includes serving as the DC Reads and DC STEM program director, supervising the Jumpstart Site Manager position and program, and broad support of education programming and advocacy at CSJ. Nicole comes to this role after previously serving as CSJ’s Jumpstart Site Manager. Prior to Georgetown, Nicole spent four years in New Orleans building capacity in Greater New Orleans non-profit organizations by supporting Tulane University AmeriCorps VISTA members through their year of service. Nicole is from Newport News, Virginia, and is a proud First Generation graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology degree. She is currently pursuing her Master of Social Work with a specialization in Children, Youth, and Families at George Mason University.
Ray Shiu serves as the Deputy Director of the Center for Social Justice. He has been in this role since January 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the overall management of CSJ’s staff-run and student-run social justice community-based service, including student development, community and university outreach, and fiscal and administrative management. Ray joined CSJ as Special Programs Coordinator in 2004 and later served as Program Director for Student Leadership and Special Programs from 2006 to 2012 and CSJ’s Associate Director from 2012 to 2020. Originally from Modesto, CA, Ray received his BS in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, as a first-generation student. After graduation, he moved to New York City and worked as a program and financial officer at a research center at the Columbia University Business School. While in New York City, Ray earned his MA in Higher Education, with a concentration in academic and student development from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
Ray serves as a board member on two local nonprofits providing services to the unhoused community, Friendship Place and Georgetown Ministry Center. He also serves as a member of the advisory board for the GU School of Continuing Studies’ Higher Education Administration Master’s Program. Ray teaches a section of theMastering the Hidden Curriculum course with first-generation, low-income students at Georgetown.
Andria Wisler, Ph.D.
Executive Director and Teaching Professor, Justice and Peace Studies Email me at akw28 AT georgetown.edu
Dr. Andria Wisler became the Executive Director of the Center for Social Justice in January 2013. She first joined Georgetown University in Fall 2008 as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Program on Justice and Peace (JUPS) and served as Director of that program from January 2011-December 2012. Andria received her Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education and Philosophy from Columbia University and master’s in International Educational Development and Peace Education from Teachers College. Her research and teaching are in the fields of peace education, conflict studies, and international educational development, and her principal interest lies in the transformative potential of educational initiatives in post-conflict societies and for girls living in urban poverty. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Andria began her vocation within education as a school teacher at an independent school, the Cornelia Connelly Center (CCC), which serves girls of working class families of the Lower East Side, New York City. She served as an invited member of the Board of Trustees of the CCC for six years (2008-2014) and re-joined the Board in Fall 2022.
At Georgetown, Andria has been involved in several campus initiatives and programs. She participated in the inaugural group of Doyle Fellows, a campus initiative on inclusion and diversity, the Engelhard Initiative, and in the Fall 2010 semester, Andria was a faculty-in-residence in Georgetown’s Alanya, Turkey study abroad/community living-and-learning program. Andria co-edited (with Celina Del Felice and Aaron Karako) Peace Education Evaluation (Information Age, 2015), a first of its kind resource of 20 chapters that reviews the trends and challenges in evaluation of peace education, presents case studies of programs around world, and offers ideas for methodological innovations.
